Tropical Cyclone Fytia rapidly intensified to the equivalent of a major hurricane before it hit the west coast of Madagascar on Friday night. At 10:00 p.m. EST on Friday the center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia was located at latitude 16.3°S and longitude 45.2°E which put the center about 25 miles (40 km) west of Soalala, Madagascar. Fytia was moving toward the east-southeast at 12 m.p.h. (19 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 115 m.p.h. (185 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 145 m.p.h. (235 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 962 mb.
Tropical Cyclone Fytia continued to intensify rapidly on Friday right up to the time it hit the west coast of Madagascar. A small circular eye was at the center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia. The eye was surrounded by a ring of thunderstorms and the strongest winds were occurring in that ring of storms. Bands of showers and thunderstorms were revolving around the core of Fytia’s circulation. Storms near the core of Fytia generated strong upper level divergence that pumped large quantities of mass away from the tropical cyclone. The removal of large amounts of mass caused the surface pressure to decrease rapidly.
The circulation around Tropical Cyclone Fytia was small. Winds to tropical storm force extended out 25 miles (40 km) from the center of Fytia’s circulation. Winds to tropical storm force extended out 90 miles (145 km) from the center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia.
The Hurricane Intensity Index (HII) for Tropical Cyclone Fytia was 20.6. The Hurricane Size Index (HWISI) was 9.4 and the Hurricane Wind Intensity Size Index (HWISI) was 30.0 Tropical Cyclone Fytia was similar in size and intensity to Hurricane Zeta when Zeta hit Louisiana in 2020.
Tropical Cyclone Fytia will move around the southwestern part of a high pressure system that is over the South Indian Ocean. The high pressure system will steer Fytia toward the southeast during the next 24 hours. On its anticipated track, Tropical Cyclone Fytia will across central Madagascar on Saturday.
The center of Tropical Cyclone Fytia made landfall on the west coast of Madagascar west of Soalala. The center of Fytia’s circulation is likely to pass between Antananarivo and Toamasina on Saturday night. Tropical Cyclone Fytia will weaken as it moves across Madagascar.
Tropical Cyclone Fytia will bring strong winds and locally heavy rain to the coast of west central Madagascar and to central Madagascar. Fytia could cause major damage in those areas. Heavy rain is very likely to cause flash floods in some locations. Tropical Cyclone Fytia could also cause a storm surge of up to 10 feet (3 meters) along parts of the west coast of Madagascar.